in some posts i saw criticism to prophet mohammad for marrying a "child" of nine year only (although
the reports are differnt and some of them the age is mentioned 19).

upon my search i found a research paper saying"There are new guidelines for pediatricians that are
guaranteed to shock: girls who start to develop breasts and pubic hair at age six or seven are not
necessarily "abnormal" (Kaplowitz, et al., 1999). In fact, by their ninth birthday, 48% of African
American girls and 15% of white girls are showing clear signs of puberty."

http://www.center4research.org/children9.html

"The new guidelines, published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, are
based on several studies.1 The most important is Marcia Herman-Giddens’ study of 17,000 girls
between the ages of three and 12 who were patients in more than 200 pediatricians’ offices across
the country.2 Previous standards of "normal puberty" were set more than 30 years ago, based on a
study of fewer than 200 girls in a British orphanage in the 1960s."
if this is possible in this polluted environement, poisoned food, is it impossible that girls
attained age of puberty at nine before 1426 years?"

http://www.center4research.org/children11.html.

in my opinion it was a useless criticism, because propeht mohammad did not marry a child but a
woman!

Salam hatam !
Nice found ! i do agree with you that most of our non-muslim brothers criticized the marriage of our
beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) with Hazrat Aisha (rta). and the fact of criticism was the age of
aisha (rta) so its good that you have proved this fact and its possible for a nine year old girl to
reach the puberty age.

I honestly enjoyed reading the above-mentioned article by a good brother.What is left now is for
our non-muslims brothers and sisters to understand why girls are married at the ages of nine and
above.
May Allah continue to guide us all.Amee.

You mean that if a nine years old girl's sex organs are developed it means that she can get
married!? Do you believe that this is the only requirement for marriage!!! Is her mental condition
ready for it? Is a nine years old girl in the condition to decide about her future life and
destiny!!! . Do you know how much the girls of this age can be shocked to have sex with a man at the
age of their father!

Do you think marriage is just having sex!!!

Several years ago I was working in a Charity organization for Afghan refugees. During my work I meet
many Afghan girls of age of 12 to 15 they got married (Better to say they had been forced by parents
to get married) but they had no idea about their husband, sex and their fate. They were still a
child that should play with their dolls but they had to take care of their children! It is not
fair

in some posts i saw criticism to prophet mohammad for
marrying a "child" of nine year only (although the reports are differnt and some of them
the age is mentioned 19).

upon my search i found a research paper saying"There are new guidelines for pediatricians that
are guaranteed to shock: girls who start to develop breasts and pubic hair at age six or seven are
not necessarily "abnormal" (Kaplowitz, et al., 1999). In fact, by their ninth birthday,
48% of African American girls and 15% of white girls are showing clear signs of puberty."

http://www.center4research.org/children9.html

"The new guidelines, published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of
Pediatrics, are based on several studies.1 The most important is Marcia Herman-Giddens’ study of
17,000 girls between the ages of three and 12 who were patients in more than 200 pediatricians’
offices across the country.2 Previous standards of "normal puberty" were set more than 30
years ago, based on a study of fewer than 200 girls in a British orphanage in the
1960s."
if this is possible in this polluted environement, poisoned food, is it impossible that girls
attained age of puberty at nine before 1426 years?"

http://www.center4research.org/children11.html.

in my opinion it was a useless criticism, because propeht mohammad did not marry a child but a
woman!

what do u think now!

Ahmad,

I have actually no problem with the prophet marrying a nine year old girl, Aisha, (Allah be pleased
with her) thousands of years ago.... as in those times it was
alright !!!!!!!

People had short life span and it was not against the customs to get young girls get married off as
early as possible.

It was acceptable to people then...it was WRONG but culturally acceptable in many different parts
of the world.

Stoning and burning at the stake was also acceptable then !!!

If this ws the reason given by you then i wouldnt have been shocked.

what surprised me most in the post is your justification for the act !!!!

I dont criticise the Prophet for what he did because in those times the act was not a crime but How
can one justify the act trying to prove sexual maturity of a nine year old kid ?

Once again I am not questioning the Prophet's(pbuh) act....

But I do hope that such acts are not acceptable to anybody on this planet in the present age.

If someone went to primary school, S/he should know age of puberty very well... it is written in
textbooks "Age of puberty is 8-10 years old for girls in Suudi Arabia or Africa(hot weather),
it is 10-12 years old in Turkey and other countries which have similar weather with Turkey, it is
12-15 in northern countries for girls." Well, we are talking about 1400 years ago... Not now!
Everything is changing.. At the present time, even in America, Japan or Europian countires, age of
puberty is falling... But, this time the reasons are more diffirent to be in age of puberty. The
reason is not only the weather, also other factors... Like TV, media...
if we think about 50 years ago, at that time, people were marring very early, and they were only
12-13 years old. For this reason, it was not abnormal to marry at aged of 9, 1400 years ago.

Hamid - there is an old saying - if there is grass on the field play ball ;-) but its meant as a
sick joke.

Just because a girl has reached puberty at 9 years old is in NO WAY and excuse for an adult male to
have sex with a 9 year old girl.

I do not think that Muhammed living 1500 years ago can be judged by todays standards -

So I don't critisize him for what he did - as Ana pointed out there were alot of practices from that
period which are not acceptable today and it was a time when people were not expected to live as
long -

but TODAY it is completely unacceptable - the fact that other Muslims like Payab think you have
really found something here is almost laughable -

so what if she had BEGUN (not completed) puberty - she is still 9 years old - a child - as Aidin
says, who should play with dolls.

I have neices that are 9 years old, they are children - if a fully grown man tried to have sex with
them I would kill that man with my bare hands.

the more relevant issue is that men like Osama Bin Laden TODAY have married children - I think his
third wife was 13 years old -

considering how judgemental he is toward the west for its sexual attitudes he seems horrible
hypocritical after having sex with a 13 year old little girl.

mental preparations for marriage-understand the responsibilties of new life and also be prepared to
manage a house and work independently.you must be able to deal with new relations and above all
enjoy life with your mate.

whether it is right or wrong today, it is wrong! i have written articles on the issue, polygamy, and
women rights published in different magazine in afghanistan and pakistan, they are available on net
certainly in pashto, dari.

but the issue of marraige of aisha is somehow different, mohammad was a propeht, he needed a
companion who can elaborate the special issue concernig spouses to other people, because he was not
an ordinary man, he wa a person to be folowed in his deeds, acts, and everything even in marital
affairs.

so when age is no problem, a girl can marry at the age of nine, aisha did it. ok.

i also say that marriage does not mean only sex, we are talking about a period of 1426 years back,
at that time when this was a custom, they could have talked to thier girls about the liabilites and
rights of marraige, thier mental condition should be judged as of talking in that period, when that
is a custom it means mentally they were aware of what is going on, what will happen? so why should a
perosn has a problem with that?

now,age is fine, she narrated about 3000 reports from propeht concerning every minor issue, about
her treatement, days, equality with others, she was a scholar, asked by companions about certain
issues, according to our faith (allah promised her the paradise). so in my opinion, if the physical
condition is fine, her status was fine, no problem (mentally ) has been reported, means every thing
went right, and no need for criticizing a person, even when he is a propeht.

i accept, that today due to certain complexities, change in requirements, and some other factors,
marriage of a minor not right.

one question however remains, if a girl attained the age of puberty, know the issues, could she be
married? if not, why?

i think its disgusting that the prohphet married a nine year old, no she was not a woman she was a
young girl. Just because she might have had a mature body it certainly doesnt mean she matured
emotionally or psychologically. I honestly dont know how you can advocate this in the slightest. i
understand it was the prophet and so it is ok but arent muslim men supposed to be as like Mohammed
as possible? my mum is a muslim and she told me that they were. so if muslim men are supposed to be
like mohammed i.e. the more like him the better why are there still laws around the world with a
minimum age on marriage? because the majoritory of people feel that until you are much older and
can think for yourself then you shouldnt be allowed to make rash decisions.

one question however remains, if a girl attained the age of puberty, know the issues, could she be
married? if not, why?

I know someone who got married, when she was 12 years old. Maybe she has 3-4 children now... I am sure, you can find someone who got married at the age of 9 in the world even
now ..
Yes, when a girl is 9 year old, she can attain the age of puberty. But, her soul and heart are
still a child. It's really sad to see very young mothers. However, I always see them, when they
smile. I think, life makes them grow up...
But, Aisha was a special woman as belief of Muslims. She was a prophet's wife... Therefore, we can
not judge their marriage.

i think its disgusting that the prohphet married a
nine year old, no she was not a woman she was a young girl. Just because she might have had a mature
body it certainly doesnt mean she matured emotionally or psychologically. I honestly dont know how
you can advocate this in the slightest. i understand it was the prophet and so it is ok but arent
muslim men supposed to be as like Mohammed as possible? my mum is a muslim and she told me that they
were. so if muslim men are supposed to be like mohammed i.e. the more like him the better why are
there still laws around the world with a minimum age on marriage? because the majoritory of people
feel that until you are much older and can think for yourself then you shouldnt be allowed to make
rash decisions.

I think, there is a misunderstanding here; not only by non-Muslims but also by Muslims. Please, read
the following article which answers all your questions. As the article shows, Aisha (RA) was
somewhere between 16-19 according to the scriptural and other historical evidences, and I agree with
the article that it is impossible the Prophet (PBUH) married Aisha (RA) when she was a 9-year-old.
It should also be considered that the Prophet (PBUH) did not engage in sexual activities with her
until several years after marriage because she was young. Anyway, read on for a far better and more
comprehensive explanation:

According to Ibn Hisham's recension of Ibn Ishaq's biography of Prophet Muhammad, the Sirat Rashul
Allah, the earliest surviving biography of Muhammad, Aisha accepted Islam before Umar ibn
al-Khattab. If true, then Aisha accepted Islam during the first few years of Islam. She could not
have been less than 14 years in 1 AH - the time she got married.
• Tabari reports that when Abu Bakr planned on migrating to Ethiopia (8 years before Hijrah), he
went to Mut`am - with whose son Aisha was engaged at that time - and asked him to take Aisha as his
son's wife. Mut`am refused because Abu Bakr had converted to Islam. If Aisha was only six years old
at the time of her betrothal to Muhammad, she could not have been born at the time Abu Bakr decided
on migrating to Ethiopia. Tehqiq e umar e Siddiqah e Ka'inat, Habib ur Rahman Kandhalwi,
• Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history reports that Abu Bakr had four children and all four
were born during the Jahiliyyah - the pre Islamic period. If Aisha was born in the period of
jahiliyyah, she could not have been less than 14 years in 1 AH. Tarikh al-umam wa al-mamloo'k,
Al-Tabari,
According to Ibn Hajar, Fatima was five years older than Aisha. Fatima is reported to have been born
when Muhammad was 35 years old. Muhammad migrated to Medina when he was 52, making Aisha 14 years
old in 1 AH. Tamyeez al-Sahaabah, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaniy, Vol. 4, p. 377.